Rice Repeats Wish, But Wants Change / Another year will let him know if time's up

Nancy Gay, Chronicle Staff Writer

Published 4:00 am, Thursday, December 16, 1999

Last Sunday was a strange one for Jerry Rice. The NFL's greatest wide receiver saw the unveiling of a U.S. Postage Stamp bearing his likeness. Then, in the 49ers' 26-7 victory over Atlanta, he went out and caught all of two passes for 17 yards.

"I did some blocking out there, trying to spring Charlie (Garner). And that's basically it," Rice said yesterday, some bitterness creeping into his voice. "It's just been a strange season."

A week earlier, Rice came off his best performance of the season -- nine catches, 157 yards, two touchdowns in a 44-30 loss at Cincinnati -- and proclaimed he has no intention of retiring after 15 seasons.

Yesterday, he reiterated that wish, but with this caveat: Everything that went into making this such a difficult season must change.

"Yeah, I do want to come back. I don't want to go out like this," Rice said. "I'm gonna have people saying in the offseason, 'Yeah, he should retire.' But no -- not like this.

"Now, if I come back next year and things aren't getting any better, then I know. I know it's time. But yeah, I want to come back next season."

It's not about the money anymore, he said, although Rice is due to get a significant amount next year. His cap figure for 2000 is $7.69 million, on a team that figures to be $24.3 million over the projected salary limit. If management needs to restructure his contract yet again, Rice said, so be it.

In his mind, the team's situation -- its fortunes, the attitude -- has to change. "If we have some guys in here, and we have a lot of young guys right now . . ." Rice said, his voice trailing off. "If we have a very productive year, then it would basically pay off for me. If it's worse than this season, then I know."

Nothing has gone as planned for Rice, who came to training camp bursting with enthusiasm and brimming with health. He planned on a huge year.

"Could I have imagined it would be like this?" he said, "No. No."

It all starts with losing Steve Young, Rice said. And an offensive line battered by injury and adjusting to newcomers. "It takes a long time for an offensive line to gel," Rice said. "But now they're opening up some holes, they're allowing Charlie a chance to run the

ball and they're giving Jeff (Garcia) time to throw the ball."

Rice can't help but wish more of those throws were headed his way. Last season, when Garrison Hearst rushed for a team-record 1,570 yards, the passing game didn't suffer much. Coming off his two knee surgeries, Rice caught a team-high 82 passes for 1,157 yards and nine touchdowns, his 12th 1,000-yard season.

After 13 games, Garner has eclipsed 1,000 yards rushing. But Rice is nowhere near that 1,000-yard benchmark -- he has 54 receptions for 587 yards and four touchdowns. What's the difference?

"I think, the young quarterback. The coaches have to be a little more careful," Rice said.

"It's unfortunate, when you put a younger guy in there, that the receivers who have been around for a long time, they have to suffer like that."

Part of the problem for him, Terrell Owens and J.J. Stokes has been the adjustment to an unfamiliar quarterback who's constantly on the move.

"It's basically, you just don't know what you're going to get, week to week. Over the years, we pretty much predicted how teams were going to play us," Rice said. "Now, it's totally different. It's as if you have to feel your way through games. And when you have a quarterback back there who doesn't have that much experience, it makes everything a little more exciting.

"When you look back for the quarterback, you can't see him. All of a sudden, you just see people moving back there and you try to adjust. But that's his strong point there. I think he's a better quarterback when he's on the move. He makes plays."

And given that, Rice says he has to settle for what he can get. "Just throw me a bone now and then," he said, with a faint smile.